General positive numbers can be represented in a data processing system many ways, but conventional data processing hardware generally represents numbers as binary words, i.e., words having bits which are either a "1" or a "0." The manner in which numbers are represented in hardware can affect calculation speeds, for example, when using the representations in logic operators such as adders, multipliers, comparators and the like. For example, a bit value "1" has a different effect in a multiplication operation than a bit value "0." In multiplying the two eight-bit binary numbers 01001010 and 00000101, the multiplication operation follows along these lines: ##EQU1## wherein an addition operation is performed for each bit in the multiplier 00000101 which has a binary "1" value. Generally, the more bits there are in the multiplier having a binary "1" value, the greater number of additions that are performed. Accordingly, the efficiency of a multiplication may depend on the number of bits in the multiplier having a binary "1" value.